Passed along without comment

From AP:

Power failures have become a fact of life in Venezuela, but the energy problems have not affected the presidential palace — until now. President Hugo Chavez was giving a televised address Thursday when the broadcast on state TV was suddenly interrupted. TV screens went fuzzy for a couple of seconds, then the channel switched to a spot urging Venezuelans to save electricity. When the live broadcast resumed minutes later, Chavez said the interruption was caused by problems with a power generator.

Chavez blames energy shortages on a drought and low water levels at the Guri Dam, which supplies about 70 percent of Venezuela's electricity. Critics argue Chavez has failed to invest enough in electricity production.

This article from the LA Times digs deeper into the politics of power outages in Chavez' Venezuela.

In other Hugo news, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the strongest, most autonomous body of the OAS, issued a strongly-worded report detailing the erosion of civil liberties in Venezuela. Key section:

"The commission finds that the state's punitive power is being used to intimidate or punish people on account of their political opinions...Venezuela lacks the conditions necessary for human rights defenders and journalists to carry out their work freely."

More from the Guardian:

The report said there was a "troubling trend" of harassment, violence and judicial action to deter and criminalise protests, leaving Venezuelans cowed.

It detailed cases of dozens of judges who were sacked or sidelined for issuing rulings the government did not like. "The lack of judicial independence and autonomy vis-á-vis political power is one of the weakest points in Venezuelan democracy," the commission said.

Chavez predictably lashed out on state TV, not only at the report but at the head of the IACHR, the argentino Santiago Canton, who headed up Latin American programs at NDI in the 1990's. I should say, I've not been able to verify if the previously mentioned power outage occurred while Chavez was addressed the report.

Lastly, the Supreme Court has removed the elected mayor of the Zulia municipality in the state of Sucre for failing to pay $292 in taxes. He's been replaced with a Chavez ally. See comments above on judicial independence.